By Kim J. Harmon

The post-season began in earnest this week and despite the amazing level of success achieved almost across the board at Newtown High School this spring, it did not go all that well.

The baseball team was stopped, 2-0, by Bunnell in the SWC quarterfinals; the girls’ and boys’ track and field teams finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in their conference championships meets; and the SWC defending champion girls’ tennis team was swept by Weston in the conference team semi-finals.

But there is a lot more of the post-season to come – especially with the girls’ lacrosse team seeking its third straight SWC championship.

Read on –

BASEBALL

Newtown 4, Masuk 0

Newtown 6, Stratford 2

Bunnell 2, Newtown 0 (SWC)

A good finish, a bad draw, a superb pitcher’s duel and it all ended in a loss for the Newtown High School baseball team.

With wins over Masuk and Stratford to close out the regular season, the Nighthawks – who finished 12-8 overall and 9-3 in the SWC despite losing one of their top pitchers before the season even began – earned the conference tournament’s No. 3 seed.

But what that meant was a quarterfinal visit with Bunnell … the team that lathered the ‘Hawks, 16-1, back on May 9 in Stratford.

Still, the ‘Hawks – who would have preferred to square off with almost anyone else – stood tall in a wonderful pitcher’s duel between senior Ryan McGrath of Newtown and junior Taylor Lasko of Bunnell, a pair of Division I prospects. Lasko, though, was better on Tuesday and knocked the locals out of the tournament with a 2-0 decision.

“(Lasko) is one of the league’s top three pitchers,” said head coach Carl Strait. “He mixed speeds and was around zone and pitched a great game.”

The ‘Hawks managed just three hits off Lasko – two of ‘em by Seth Hull, a single and a double – and struck out 10 times.

“Bunnell won the last eight in a row against us and so there was a little of that going on,” said coach Strait. “But we had our ace on the field, they had their ace on the field, and you just hope they leave it all out there.”

The Bulldogs challenged a bit in the top of the first, moving a runner to third, but like they did in the second, fifth and sixth innings the ‘Hawks came up with the nifty play to snuff out the potential scoring opportunity. The only time all game the ‘Hawks faltered was in the top of the fourth when a passed ball and one pitch left up in the zone led to the only two runs in the game.

Greg Fabso had the big hit, a triple, which scored the second run.

The ‘Hawks appeared willing to open the door further in the top of the fifth as two errors and a passed one put a runner on third. With one out, though, Bunnell attempted a suicide squeeze bunt that was popped up to McGrath. The pitcher scrambled off the mound to make the catch and then threw over to third for the double play.

In the top of the sixth, the ‘Dogs threatened again. A single, error, intentional walk and delayed steal put runners on second and third with two outs. Fabso stepped back into the batter’s box, only to have McGrath strike him out on a 3-2 sweeping curve.

In contrast, the ‘Hawks threatened just once – in the bottom of the first. McGrath singled up the middle with two outs in the book and Hull launched a sun-aided double to deep center that put runners on second and third. The threat was snuffed out, though, when Alex Magoulas was induced into a groundout.

Except for a single by Hull in the bottom of the fourth, the ‘Hawks did not put another runner on base against Lasko.

The locals dropped to 12-9 overall and now await the opening of the CIAC Class LL state tournament.

Closing Out

The Nighthawks did a good job of building some momentum heading into the post-season.

Sitting at 10-8 overall and 6-3 in the SWC, the locals improved their seeding – and earned a home game – with a 4-0 win over Masuk and a 6-2 win over Stratford.

In the win over Masuk, McGrath fired a complete-game shutout, scattering eight hits while walking two and striking out four. Hull singled and tripled while Magoulas doubled and Tony Gallucci tripled in a run. McGrath and Brian Cullinan also drove in runs.

The locals broke open a scoreless tie with two runs in the top of the fourth and then added two more in the top of the fifth.

In the win over Stratford, the ‘Hawks erased a 2-1 deficit with four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Gallucci keyed the rally with a run-scoring double and finished the afternoon with three hits and two RBI. Joe DeVellis doubled and drove in a run while Hull, Mike Tibbetts and catcher Wilson Davidson all drove in runs. Nick Urso stroked a pair of hits.

Sophomore Jake DeVellis earned his first win of the season, striking out four in a little over three innings of work after coming on in relief of starter Greg Rodden.

Newtown 4, Masuk 0

BATTERIES: Newtown – Ryan McGrath and Brian Cullinan; Masuk – Ted Hurvul, Nick Potolicchio (6), Tom Coppola (7) and Paul Fenaroli. WP: McGrath (6-3). LP: Hurvul (6-1). SO: McGrath 4, Hurvul 3, Potolicchio 2. BB: McGrath 2, Hurvul. HBP: McGrath. 2B: Alex Magoulas (N). 3B: Tony Gallucci (N), Seth Hull (H). RBI: Newtown – Gallucci, McGrath, Cullinan.

 

Newtown 6, Stratford 2

BATTERIES: Stratford – Brian Sarminto, Mike Gonzalez (4), Mike Deluca (7) and John Sulzicki; Newtown - Greg Rodden, Jake DeVellis (4) and Wilson Davidson. WP: DeVellis (1-1). LP: Gonzalez. SO: Rodden 4, Devellis 4, Gonzalez 2, Sarminto. BB: Gonzalez 2, Sarminto. 2B: Tim Martin (S), Chris Carboni (S), Joe DeVellis (N), Tony Gallucci (N). RBI: Stratford – Carboni, Sarminto; Newtown – Gallucci 2, Joe DeVellis, Seth Hull, Mike Tibbetts, Davidson.

GIRLS TRACK

4th at SWCs

Having lost just once during the regular season, the Newtown High School girls’ track and field team was certainly in the discussion of those who could challenge for a South-West Conference championship on Tuesday afternoon.

But the Lady Nighthawks, a bit undermanned, slipped to fourth behind hard-charging Weston (118.50 points), Bunnell (111) and Brookfield (75).

Alison McEmber (400 meters) and Rachel Taback (discus) captured the top individual finishes of the day for the locals, each coming in second. McEmber trailed Ali Atkinson of Weston by a mere three seconds in her event while Taback trailed Samantha Schueschner of Brookfield by a mere three feet in hers.

Taback added a fourth-place finish in the shot put at 31-8.0, well behind the record-setting 40-5 mark set by Candace Williams of Notre Dame.

Monica Warek came in fifth in the 100-meter dash at 13.48, less than a half-second behind Johnnae Allen-Davis of Bunnell; Kelley Sullivan was fifth in the 400 meters at 1:03.26; Jen Brill was fourth in the 3,200 meters at 11:54.37; Lauren Sudbey was fourth in the long jump at 15-8.25, about a foot behind Lauren Tanz of Brookfield, and second in the pole vault at 9-6; Gabby Nastri was sixth in the triple jump at 31-11.75; Katie Condon was fifth in the shot put; Harriet Morgan and Annika Garrett were third and fourth in the high jump at 4-8, two inches below the level cleared by Tanz; and Emily Korth finished tied for fifth in the pole vault at 8-0.

TEAM SCORES – 1. Weston 118.50, 2. Bunnell 111, 3. Brookfield 75, 4. Newtown 68.50, 5. Pomperaug 51, 6. Masuk 35, 7. Immaculate 25, 8. New Fairfield 22, 9. Bethel 20, 10. New Milford 11, 11. Notre Dame 10, 12. Joel Barlow 8.

 

TRACK EVENTS

4x800 relay – 1. Masuk (Margaret Schmaling, Cecilia Mansson, Kayla Calabrese, Erika Mansson) 9:49.92, 2. Weston 9:59.78, 3. New Fairfield 10:03.46, 4. Newtown 10:13.34, 5. New Milford 10:17.33, 6. Brookfield 10:21.77.

4x100 relay – 1. Weston (Gabrielle Brody, Shayna Goodman, Cathy Roberts, Ali Atkinson) 50.43*, 2. Bunnell 50.95, 3. Masuk 52.49, 4. Bethel 52.82, 5. Newtown 53.13, 6. Joel Barlow 53.77.

100 hurdles – 1. Lauren Tanz (Brookfield) 15.00*, 2. Carine Narcisse (Bunnell) 17.42, 3. Alesha Chu Foo (Bunnell) 17.45, 4. Kelsey Baker (Joel Barlow) 17.67, 5. Sarah Joy (Bunnell) 17.87, 6. Kate Gernert (Brookfield) 17.89

100 dash – 1. Johnnae Allen-Davis (Bunnell) 13.06, 2. Ashley Matakevich (Bunnell) 13.16, 3. Gabrielle Brody (Weston) 13.28, 4. Valerie Lupo (New Fairfield) 13.43, 5. Monica Warek (Newtown) 13.48, 6. Kanika Cummings (Masuk) 13.65.

1,600 meters – 1. Moira Kenny (Immaculate) 5:09.68*, 2. Jessica Broderick (Pomperaug) 5:22.72, 3. Jeanne Theleen (Pomperaug) 5:28.63, 4. Katie Collins (Immaculate) 5:28.74, 5. Alice Guglielmoni (Bunnell) 5:37.90, 6. Rose Wiley (Brookfield) 5:41.26.

400 meters – 1. Ali Atkinson (Weston) 57.79*, 2. Alison McEmber (Newtown) 1:00.64, 3. Cathy Roberts (Weston) 1:00.96, 4. Jackie Wald (Weston) 1:02.16, 5. Kelley Sullivan (Newtown) 1:03.26, 6. Shavonne Dash (Bunnell) 1:03.49.

300 hurdles – 1. Lauren Tanz (Brookfield) 47.01, 2. Carine Narcisse (Bunnell) 49.37, 3. Kate Gernert (Brookfield) 49.76, 4. Kate O’Leary (Brookfield) 51.14, 5. Georgia Frost (Weston) 51.30, 6. Emily Pattison (Pomperaug) 51.56.

800 meters – 1. Rebecca Fine (Weston) 2:23.11, 2. Erika Mansson (Masuk) 2:24.85, 3. Emma Tobin (Weston) 2:26.56, 4. Alice Guglielmoni (Bunnell) 2:28.93, 5. Emily Crnic (New Fairfield) 2:28.98, 6. Jenny Cahalane (New Milford) 2:32.32.

200 dash – 1. Ali Atkinson (Weston) 26.80, 2. Johnnae Allen-Davis (Bunnell) 27.12, 3. Gabrielle Brody (Weston) 27.36, 4. Valerie Lupo, New Fairfield 27.85, 5. Shayna Goodman (Weston) 28.00, 6. Kanika Cummings (Masuk) 28.41.

3,200 meters – 1. Moira Kenny (Immaculate) 11:04.18*, 2. Jessica Broderick (Pomperaug) 11:47.00, 3. Jeanne Theleen (Pomperaug) 11:50.12, 4. Jen Brill (Newtown) 11:54.37, 5. Emily Hayden (Pomperaug) 12:02.31, 6. Katie Collins (Immaculate) 12:05.09.

4x400 relay – 1. Weston (Rebecca Fine, Jackie Wald, Emma Tobin, Ali Atkinson), 4:05.72*, 2. Newtown, 4:19.02, 3. Bunnell, 4:19.50, 4. Pomperaug 4:20.33, 5. Masuk, 4:20.89, 6. Brookfield, 4:22.55.

 

FIELD EVENTS

Long jump – 1. Lauren Tanz (Brookfield) 16-8.50, 2. Ashley Matakevich (Bunnell) 16-7.50, 3. Sydney Polke (Pomperaug) 16-3.25, 4. Lauren Sudbey (Newtown) 15-8.25, 5. Kanika Cummings (Masuk) 15-7.25, 6. Molly Chhiv (Masuk) 15-4.50.

Triple jump – 1. Ashley Matakevich (Bunnell) 36-6, 2. Alisha Beeman, 33-5, 3. Sydney Polke (Pomperaug) 32-10.75, 4. Molly Chhiv (Masuk) 32-4, 5. Alesha Chu Foo (Bunnell) 32-0.75, 6. Gabby Nastri (Newtown) 31-11.75.

Javelin – 1. Tina Closius (Bethel) 115-2.50, 2. Emma Crowcroft (New Milford) 109-5, 3. Kate Butlein (Weston) 106-11, 4. Kasey Dean (Pomperaug) 103-4.50, 5. Ourania Bletsas (Joel Barlow) 98-11.50, 6. Samantha Schueschner (Brookfield) 97-11.

Shot put – 1. Candace Williams (Notre Dame) 40-5*, 2. Samantha Schueschner (Brookfield) 32-2.50, 3. Leah Scrimmager (Weston) 31-9, 4. Rachel Taback (Newtown) 31-8.0, 5. Katie Condon (Newtown) 30-9.50, 6. Kinsey Girardi (Joel Barlow) 30-8.

Discus – 1. Samantha Schueschner (Brookfield) 105-5, 2. Rachel Taback (Newtown) 102-6.5, 3. Kaitlyn Walsh (Bethel) 94-2, 4. Taylor Bacon (Bunnell) 93-3, 5. Miranda DePoi (Brookfield) 91-10, 6. Kate Butlein (Weston) 91-8.50.

High jump – 1. Lauren Tanz (Brookfield) 5-0, 2. Alesha Chu Foo (Bunnell) 4-10, 3. Harriet Morgan (Newtown) 4-8, 4. Annika Garrett (Newtown) 4-8.

Pole vault – 1. Julie Sitver (Weston) 9-6, 2. Lauren Sudbey (Newtown) 9-6, 3. Lindsey Wiedman (New Fairfield) 8-6, 4. Ann Lupo (Weston) 8-6, 5. (tie) Chloe Slovak (Weston) 8-0 and Emily Korth (Newtown) 8-0.

* - Meet Record

BOYS TRACK

6th at SWCs

As expected, the Newtown High School boys track and field team excelled in the distance events at the South-West Conference championships on Monday afternoon.

But despite second-place finishes by Charlie Baldour and Kevin Hoyt and a second-place finish by the 4x800 relay team, the points garnered from those events (almost all of the 40 points the Nighthawks scored on the day) provided only enough for a sixth-place overall finish.

Bunnell – with the aid of six individual first-place finishes – finished on top with 96.5 points, just 5.5 points ahead of a strong New Milford squad. Pomperaug (81), Weston (77) and Brookfield (74) were in the hunt for a while but, ultimately, didn’t have the horses.

Zach Schwartz had a good afternoon for the ‘Hawks, finishing third in the 3,200 meters (9:45.32) and sixth in the 1,600 meters (4:37.37). Meanwhile, Baldour was second in the 800 meters at 2:01.17, just .17 seconds behind front-running Dan Watson of New Milford, and Hoyt was second in the 3,200 meters at 9:45.27, exactly six seconds behind Dan DeCrescenzo of New Milford.

Kevin Regan had a strong third-place finish in the shot put at 41-9.25, which was a little less than eight feet off the mark set by Bunnell’s Shane Rodgers, a double winner in the field events (as he also ran away with the discus). For Newtown, Scott Nichols added a fifth-place finish in the 800 meters (2:05.12) and Eric Macknight added a sixth-place finish in the 3,200 meters (10:00.86).

The results –

TEAM SCORES: 1. Bunnell 96.5, 2. New Milford 91, 3. Pomperaug 81, 4. Weston 77, 5. Brookfield 74, 6. Newtown 40, 7. Stratford 32, 8. Joel Barlow 24.5; 9. Bethel 16, 10. Masuk 14, 11. Notre Dame 8, Immaculate 4.

 

TRACK EVENTS

4x800 relay – 1. Weston (Nicholas Mello, Tim Anderson, Steven Piscatelli, Steven Shipman) 8:13.24, 2. Newtown 8:13.63, New Milford 8:16.11, 4. Brookfield 8:25.33, 5. Joel Barlow 8:31.49, 6. Pomperaug 8:34.97.

4x100 relay – 1. Bunnell (Kevin Kabara, Adam Habansky, Chanse Wilkie, Angelo Watson) 44.23, 2. Brookfield 44.58, 3. Pomperaug 44.64, 4. Masuk 45.07, 5. Notre Dame 45.30, 6. Weston 45.44.

110 hurdles – 1. John Schalkham (Brookfield) 15.52, 2. Mike Drost (New Milford) 16.07, 3. Robert Cieri (Joel Barlow) 16.36, 4. Andrew DaSilva (Pomperaug) 16.15, 5. Jeff Williams (Bunnell) 16.26, 6. Brendan Blackwell (Bunnell) 16.65.

100 dash – Angelo Watson (Bunnell) 11.24, Stenson Jean-Baptiste (Stratford) 11.35, 3. Thaddeus Bennett (Notre Dame) 11.59, 4. John Schalkham (Brookfield) 11.67, 5. Davis Craw (Masuk) 11.68, Justin Hoffner (Masuk) 11.69.

1,600 meters – Michael Levene (Joel Barlow) 4:26.66, 2. Dan DeCrescenzo (New Milford) 4:27.58, 3. Tim Isselee (Bethel) 4:33.78, 4. Christopher Frank (Immaculate) 4:36.74, 5. Kyle Anderson (New Milford) 4:36.99, 6. Zach Schwartz (Newtown) 4:37.37.

400 meters – 1. Tim Piccolo (Pomperaug) 51.69, 2. Chris Wallace (Brookfield) 51.75, 3. Taylor Parkhurst (Bethel) 52.06, 4. Chanse Wilkie (Bunnell) 52.50, 5. James Gaffney (Weston) 53.00, 6. Matt Keogh (Brookfield) 53.01.

300 hurdles – 1. Mike Drost (New Milford) 40.79, 2. Martin Halquist (Weston) 40.82, 3. Jeff Williams (Bunnell) 41.55, 4. Ryan Drost (New Milford) 41.68, 5. Andrew DaSilva (Pomperaug) 42.82, 6. Scott McAulay (Pomperaug) 43.05.

800 meters – 1. Dan Watson (New Milford) 2:01.00, 2. Charlie Baldour (Newtown) 2:01.17, 3. Steven Shipman (Weston) 2:02.78, 4. Harrison Katz (Pomperaug) 2:04.06, 5. Scott Nichols (Newtown) 2:05.12, 6. Anthony Vento (New Milford) 2:05.57.

200 dash – 1. David Piccolo (Pomperaug) 22.77, 2. Stenson Jean-Baptiste (Stratford) 22.98, 3. Davis Crew (Masuk) 23.10, 4. Steve Pierre-Charles (Bunnell) 23.33, 5. Matt Cook (Brookfield) 23.41, 6. Alex Vogt (Bunnell) 23.56.

3,200 meters – 1. Dan DeCrescenzo (New Milford) 9:39.27, 2. Kevin Hoyt (Newtown) 9:45.27, 3. Zach Schwartz (Newtown) 9:45.92, 4. Tim Isselee (Bethel) 9:59.48, 5. Taylor Phillips (Brookfield) 10:00.84, 6. Eric MacKnight (Newtown) 10:00.86.

4x400 relay – 1. Weston (Nicholas Mello, Oliver Gaffney, James Gaffney, Steven Shipman) 3:31.30, 2. Brookfield 3:31.51, 3. New Milford 3:31.68, 4. Bunnell 3:32.36, 5. Pomperaug 3:34.80, 6. Masuk 3:35.67.

 

FIELD EVENTS

Long jump – 1. Stenson Jean-Baptiste (Stratford) 20-10.75, 2. David Piccolo (Pomperaug) 20-6.50, 3. Russell Fallo (Joel Barlow) 20-3.50, 4. Andrew Vento (Weston) 19-10.75, 5. Alex Chisholm (Pomperaug) 19-7.50, 6. Tim Miller (Pomperaug) 19-5.00.

Triple jump - 1. Jeff Williams (Bunnell) 43-5.00, 2. Mark Harrison, 42-3.50, 3. Stenson Jean-Baptiste, Stratford 42-2.75, 4. David Piccolo (Pomperaug) 41-7, 5. Andrew Vento (Weston) 41-3.00, 6. Shane Bannon (Pomperaug) 40-0.

Javelin – 1. Thad Diamond (New Milford) 161-7, 2. Jam Bucciarelli (Pomperaug) 159-8, 3. Adam Habansky (Bunnell) 158-7, 4. Max Champtalop (Weston) 155-8, 5. Owen Wiseman (Weston) 144-1, 6. Dan Kincade (Brookfield) 135-8.

Shot put – 1. Shane Rodgers (Bunnell) 49-7.50, 2 Shane Bannon (Pomperaug) 45-11.00, 3. Kevin Regan (Newtown) 41-9.25, 4. Lucas Gould (Weston) 41-8.50, 5. Steve Bendrick (New Milford) 41-6.50, 6. Max Chamtalop (Weston) 41-6.25.

Discus – 1. Shane Rodgers (Bunnell) 141-0, 2. Nick Paradiso (New Milford) 133-10, 3. Lucas Gould (Weston) 118-9, 4. Matthew Martin (Pomperaug) 116-9, 5. Dan Kincade (Brookfield) 109-9, 6. Shane Bannon (Pomperaug) 106-1.

High jump – 1. Mark Harrison (Bunnell) 6-2, 2. (tie) Joshua Larwin (Pomperaug) 6-0, EJ Occhiboi (Brookfield) 6-0, and Steven Vasquez (Brookfield) 6-0, 5. Bryce Shumate (New Milford) 5-10, 6. (tie) Russell Fallo (Joel Barlow) 5-8, and Rashaun Dickson (Brookfield) 5-8.

Pole vault – 1. Owen Wiseman (Weston) 14-1, 2. Mike Martson (Brookfield) 13-0, 3. Ben Gerroll (Weston) 13-0, 4. Bryce Shumate (New Milford) 12-0, 5. Ryan Ackell (Brookfield) 12-0, 6. Dan Parella (Weston) 11-6.

SOFTBALL

Masuk 1, Newtown 0

Lauralton Hall 3, Newtown 2

Gosh, talk about grueling. In the space of two games, the Newtown High School softball team put in 20 innings of work and all it had to show for that massive effort was a pair of heartbreaking, one-run losses.

The first was a 1-0 loss at the hands of sophomore phenom Rachele Fico and Masuk last Thursday in Monroe in a game that didn’t end until a single, stolen base and error allowed the winning run to score in the bottom of the 11th inning.

The ‘Hawks collected just one hit, a nubber off the end of Joanna Barry’s bat in the top of the fifth that floated over the first baseman’s head and dropped just inside the line. The first- and second basemen scrambled to recover, but Barry beat the toss to the base.

The locals struck out 27 times (13 times in a row to open the game). In the fifth, Barry’s single and an HBP for Caitlin Cosgrove put Newtown runners on first and second but back-to-back strikeouts got the Panthers out of the inning. For the rest of the game, the locals only put six balls in play against Fico.

Meanwhile, Jenna Legros matched Fico goose egg for goose egg, scattering six hits while striking out nine and suffering the hard-luck loss.

The second was a 3-2 loss at the hands of Lauralton Hall on Monday afternoon in a game that didn’t end until a bases loaded fielder’s choice grounder in the bottom of the ninth scored Jess Horvath with the winning run.

Nora Lynn Shimko was 2-for-4 with a single and two-run homer and Kate Bowen was 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. Cosgrove and Kelly Tenney also collected singles. Shimko’s homer erased a 2-0 deficit and drew the ‘Hawks even with the Crusaders in the fifth, leading to the thrilling finish.

Horvath was 3-for-5 with a double, triple and RBI to lead the 17-2 Crusaders. The ‘Hawks, 15-4, closed out the regular season on Wednesday against Stratford and were prepared to open the South-West Conference tournament on Thursday.

Lauralton Hall 3, Newtown 2

BATTERIES: Newtown – Jenna Legros and Ashley Kuligowski; Lauralton Hall – Bridget Gates and Courtney Colllins. WP: Gates (10-2). LP: Legros (10-4). SO: Gates 11, Legros 6. BB: Legros 7. 2B: Horvath (LH). 3B: Horvath (LH). HR: Shimko (N). RBI: Newtown – Shimko 2; Lauralton Hall – Colleen Clark 2, Horvath.

 

Masuk 1, Newtown 0

BATTERIES: Newtown – Jenna Legros and Ashley Kuligowski; Masuk – Rachele Fico and Viccari. WP: Fico. LP: Legros (10-3). SO: Fico 27, Legros 9. BB: Legros 4. HBP: Fico.

GIRLS TENNIS

Weston 7, Newtown 0

Their regular season losses were all close but their South-West Conference team tournament loss was not.

The Newtown High School girls’ tennis team closed out the regular season at 10-4 and earned a fourth seed in the post-season tournament. But while all four regular-season losses were of the 4-3 variety, the tournament loss to Weston was of the 7-0 variety.

The Lady Nighthawks captured just one set on the afternoon as the No. 1 doubles tandem of Katie Serock and Jenna Moser battled Lindsey Gersh and Liz Palmieri in a grueling 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 7-2 match. All other individual matches went straight sets, though Maxx Zimmer battled hard in a 7-5, 6-3 loss to Kate Cohen at No. 3 singles.

With a team title out of their grasp, the ‘Hawks sought other titles at the SWC individual tournament on Wednesday and Thursday.

Weston 7, Newtown 0

SINGLES: Alyssa Schaefer (W) def Kristene Salbu 6-0, 6-1; Marie Gargiulo (W) def Christina Ciamarra 6-0, 6-2; Kate Cohen (W) def Maxx Zimmer 7-5, 6-3; Sara Nilsson (W) def Jenna Himmelfarb 6-3, 6-1. DOUBLES: Lindsey Gersh/Liz Palmieri (W) def Katie Serock/Jenna Moser 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-2; Katie Gross/Emily St. Denis (W) def Lauren DeFelice/Nikia McFadden 6-2, 6-3; Michelle Smith/Kelly Pierce (W) def Erin Nemeth/Charlotte Manos 6-1, 6-3.

GIRLS LACROSSE

Newtown 20, Notre Dame 0

There was little danger waiting the Newtown High School girls’ lacrosse team on Monday night at Blue & Gold Stadium.

With a struggling Notre Dame team coming to town for Senior Night, the Lady Nighthawks’ No. 1 seed and undefeated conference season were hardly in jeopardy and befitting the circumstances, the locals eased their way to a 20-0 win.

BOYS LACROSSE

Newtown 8, Notre Dame 6

Even though a trip to the CIAC state tournament was already out of the question, the Newtown High School boys’ lacrosse team still had an opportunity to secure a berth in the South-West Conference tournament and locked it in with an 8-6 win over Notre Dame on Tuesday afternoon.

The Nighthawks took a 4-0 lead into the half and then had to hold off a second-half Notre Dame rally. The Lancers scored four times in the third and twice more in the fourth, but a three-goal effort by the locals in the final stanza made the difference.

Christian Beitel scored three goals while Brendan Martin added two to lead the 5-10-0 ‘Hawks. Will Mahony, Zach D’Agostino and Collin Babbage also scored as Zach Varga and Mahony chipped in two assists each. Martin and Speer also notched assists as Max Beitel earned the win with five saves.

The locals faced New Fairfield in the SWC quarterfinals on Wednesday. They lost to the Rebels, 15-7, back on May 8.

Newtown 8, Notre Dame 6

GOALS: Newtown – Christian Beitel 3, Brendan Martin 2, Will Mahony, Zack D’Agostino, Collin Babbage; Notre Dame – Mike Penna 3, Mark Miller, Eddie Johnston, Anthony Capelli. ASSISTS: Newtown – Zack Varga 2, Mahony 2, Martin, Travis Speer; Notre Dame – Matt Caufield, Joe Broderick. SHOTS: Newtown – 32; Notre Dame – 14. SAVES: Newtown – Max Beitel 5; Notre Dame – Joe Banno 24.

GOLF

Newtown 157, Joel Barlow 166

The last time the Newtown High School golf team took out its blades at a course other than its own, the numbers were a little, um, high.

But on Tuesday afternoon at the Redding Country Club, the Nighthawks were as sharp as they have been at home and secured a 157-166 win over Joel Barlow to run their record to 14-1 overall, 10-0 in the South-West Conference.

Back on May 9 at Oronoque Country Club in Stratford, the ‘Hawks bladed their way to a combined 187 … yet still shot low enough to top Bunnell. At the par-36 layout in Redding, Stephen Oberstadt carded a 2-over par 38 while JP McDade and Pat Daly carded rounds of 3-over par 39 to offset a medallist performance of 1-over par 37 by Barlow’s Alex Bardani.

Billy McCann added a 5-over 41 to round out Newtown’s total.

Trying to catch up on some rainouts this week, the locals faced Masuk at Whitney Farms in Monroe on Wednesday and next Tuesday will finish up against Bunnell.